Campaign to get loved ones to quit

It comes as the Department of Health launches a second wave of an advertising campaign aimed at getting loved ones to stop smoking.

The research, covering 1,000 children aged 17-13 in England, was conducted on behalf of the Department and found that young people were so concerned about the impact of smoking on their parent’s health that they would forego Christmas presents, give up pocket money or do homework every night if they kicked the habit.

Public Health Minister Anne Milton said: “What’s clear from the research is that children really want their parents to give up smoking. It’s not easy to give up, but we hope the campaign will give people that extra bit of encouragement they need to quit.”

Key findings of the research were that 54% of children with a parent who smoked say that their one wish for Christmas is that their mum or dad gave up smoking while 98% of children wished that they would quit.

Some 73% were worried about the risk of their parent dying and 58% were worried about the risk of heart disease.

And 29% admitted to hiding their parents’ cigarettes in a desperate attempt to help them quit.

The new campaign features real children rather than actors, talking about how worried they are about their parents’ smoking.

The adverts encourage smokers to order a free Quit Kit, developed by experts together with smokers and ex-smokers and contain practical tools and advice to help smokers quit smoking for good.